"You forgot the first rule of remakes. Never fuck with the original!"
Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that they know that the original "Scream" film is special to me. I don't mean to sound stupid or anything, but the original film is what got me into horror films and more importantly it was the film that got me into writing, something I still pursue today well over 14 years later. So needless to say when I heard Wes Craven was teaming back up with Kevin Williamson to make a new "Scream" film I was overjoyed. I waited a long year for the final product and I, for once, was not let down.
The film, like the original, is very much of its time. In the movie the "Stab" films (you know, the movies within the movie based on the events of the movies...)have taken on the life of the "Saw" films. The opening of the movie introduces that since the last film a total of 7 "Stab" films have been made. We get a taste of the opening of "Stab 7" which is made deliberately over the top. We have a few cameos (from the likes of Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell) and we finally meet up with Ghostface (after a long 11 year absence!) The opening comes to an end and we begin the movie.
We meet up with Sidney (Neve Campbell) who is on the last stop of her book tour. And what is her last stop? You guessed it! Woodsboro! Sid has written a self-help book entitled "Out of Darkness". The city is excited for her homecoming (which just happens to be the 15th anniversary of the murders from the original film), but not all is grand! Dewey (David Arquette) is now the sheriff of Woodsboro and really looks aged, as does his wife Gale (Courteney Cox). Their marriage is in an uproar when Gale wants to help out in the investigation of the murders and Dewey wants nothing to do with that. The basic stuff unfolds and Ghostface makes his ways into killings, until the climatic ending, which I won't reveal here.
Now for the official review. I enjoyed the film even if some of things were slightly off. First off, there was something about the movie that didn't feel like the other 3 "Scream" films. I'm not sure what it was but I can say it started with the weak opening to the film. Usually the opening scene is the best part of the movie, to get the audience pumped up, but I felt that wasn't anything special, aside from making fun of the fact that the "Stab" films are out of whack. The film was overly gory, which isn't a bad thing, but it was definitely the goriest of the four films. I felt that the film focused way more on the killings than on the characters. The original three films were very character driven whereas this film is more plot driven, I guess would be the correct terminology.
The film had its normal horror film nods (including naming one of the police officers Anthony Perkins), but there was one thing that really irked me. There is a nerdy movie guy and this very attractive girl who wants the nerdy guy. Granted this does happen, but it doesn't happen too often. I felt that was a little far fetched and the fact that this very attractive girl was also a horror movie nerd. Just something that didn't really make sense to me.
Overall the film was really good and it really made me feel like the old times of watching horror films. 15 years after the original film changed my life the new one has reinvigorated my horror lust and I now have a major desire to watch horror movies again!
